Performance bottlenecking

[bkoszyk]

I've been reading up on "bottlenecking" that occurs when, say, a graphics card is really good but the processor and RAM in the same PC isn't, so the graphics card can't be used to its full potential.

I have the gist of it, but don't fully understand to what degree this affects a computer, so these are my two quick questions:

1) How high of a graphics card can I upgrade to without my system bottlenecking and me wasting money on a high-end card that I can't fully use?

2) Is my system still viable for future gaming, such as Crysis, UT2007, etc?

My specs:

Pentium D 2.8 gHz
2 gb PC2 4300 RAM
ATI Radeon x800xl graphics card

Any info and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bkoszyk]

...uh, weird? I have no idea who that guy is, but I'm the one who posted this topic!

Sorry to whomever "bkoszyk" is!

-- MrCanadian

 

[bkoszyk]

...and it's still doing it! Ah well, any info you guys can provide me with would be great, whoever this website claims I am!

--MrCanadian

 

[dBTelos]

Your system is fairly balanced out.

1) 7900GTX wont bottleneck you too much if you have the money. 7900GT would be my recommendation.
2) I say that you should just stick with your current hardware for a couple more months. Let DX10 develop, then upgrarde to a bang for the buck, budget setup.

 

[MrCanadian]

Could I indulge you to make a future prediction at what a set up would look like come the introduction of DX10? I'm curious as to whether or not what would be easier - upgrading my current computer or simply buying a new one.

 

[dBTelos]

Well, I couldn't tell you because DX10 hasen't been released yet. But if your looking to be able to play new games, better to wait for DX10 to be finalized and released. Hope this helps you out, somewhat

-dB

 

[AnotherGuy]

Originally posted by: bkoszyk
...uh, weird? I have no idea who that guy is, but I'm the one who posted this topic!

Sorry to whomever "bkoszyk" is!

-- MrCanadian

Lol Exactly the same thing happened to me too 5 mins ago.... I was replying to a thread here and after i wanted to read what i wrote... I see a totally unheard name of the person who had replied to it... which in reality it was supposed to be me...